


Crushed Juniberry Flowers

by OhSnapDragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Shiro (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 14:39:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17768681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhSnapDragon/pseuds/OhSnapDragon
Summary: “Who are you!?” Keith demanded. The Altean gave him a confused but just as equally, angry expression.“Who are you!?” he mimicked back, just as lost with the predicament. Keith’s rage kicked in along with his Galran side taking over, giving him a little extra strength to take over, shoving him down. Shiro groaned as fell to the dirt. Keith blinked seeing the Altean in pain.The black paladin let out a small horrified gasp.Keith had heard it too. He pushed Keith away, revealing in their final quarrel, they had ruined the juniberry flowers. Keith lowered his blade, watching as the Altean picked the broken petals and ruined stems.Silence overtook them until the Altean got up. He walked passed Keith, leaving him and the destroyed flowers behind.Keith turned back to the flowers, picking up the soft blossoms.---------In which an extinct flower brings two people together.





	Crushed Juniberry Flowers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MikelaArts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikelaArts/gifts).



> Hi this was a Shiethlentines gift for MikelaArts :3 
> 
> Went with prompt Galra Keith and Altean Shiro but had to toss in some flowers as well

* * *

“That is impossible . . .” the surviving princess of Altea, Allura, whispered as she watched one of her Altean paladins pull up readings of surviving Altean flora on a neighboring solar system. Taking a sharp breath, the black paladin, Shiro, put his hand on her shoulder. She took it, grasping it hopes of what the green paladin discovered was true.

“It’s faint,” Pidge said, swiping through screens and zooming in towards the solar system. “Hunk and I assessed the planet’s air quality and it is breathable but there are traces of the flowers.” Pidge looked to the yellow paladin, Hunk, who scratched his golden marks on his cheek.

“The planet keeps scrambling our signal but we can attempt to retrieve them. It appears to be a safe planet from our assessment . . .” he said but seemed a bit uncertain. The wariness was interrupted with the blue paladin jumping in to shake both Pidge and Hunk.

“This is amazing you guys!” Lance exclaimed. “A piece of Altea! A piece of home!” His joy was infectious as Shiro and Allura couldn’t help but smile.

He was right. It was amazing. The five of them had woken up in pods only to discover Altea’s people were wiped away. According to instructions left behind, Alfor and Melenor had decided to save their daughter along with her four friends to pilot the legendary Voltron.

They discovered the castle’s ship was integrated with Alfor’s royal advisor consciousness, Coran, who guided them. He had been a great help in moments of need such as attempting to find Shiro’s black lion or when one of the paladins missed their family.

However, even with everything Allura’s parents left behind and Coran’s assistance, the paladins felt a sense of loneliness that their entire home planet was gone. There were moments of hope throughout forming the Voltron Coalition such as Allura finding the mice in one of the pods and Pidge finding a signal from her brother saying their families were alive but at the end of each day, Altea was becoming a distant memory.

So seeing the juniberry flowers’ traces amongst the screen sparked a light inside Shiro and the rest of them that he didn’t know existed until now.

Home.

A rapid, blinking light flashed by the location of the flower. Pidge switched screens revealing that a ship was approaching the planet that contained the juniberry flowers. Recognizing whose ship that was, Lance and Allura spoke at the same time.

“Lotor . . .”

Shiro walked towards the screens, staring at Lotor’s advancing ship. the paladins had only a few spats here and there with Lotor and one of his other half-Galra crew members, Axca. From their fights, they all knew Lotor and his crew were not to be trifled with. Shiro bit his lip, already concerned.

“Why would he be heading towards this planet?”

“Most likely to destroy any last trace of Altea-“ Allura snarled, already heading to her post open a wormhole. “Hold on!”

“Allura wai-“

The paladins grabbed any type of support in the split second they had as Allura quickly opened a gate to the planet.

* * *

“Lotor?”

Lotor looked up to turn to Ezor who was tapping her chin. She was the first to finally speak up amongst his crew on taking this little detour from their main mission involving Voltron.

“Why this planet?”

“Yeah!” Zethrid agreed with Ezor who gave a smile. “You said we were picking up some lifeforms here. What do you mean?”

Axca and Narti didn’t say a word but waited for Lotor’s response.

“There is an Altean plant here that was assumed extinct. Juniberry flowers.”

Silence amongst the crew until a hesitant voice piped up.

“Juniberry flowers?” Keith asked from behind the ship. Lotor turned to him seeing Keith had narrowed his eyes out of frustration from the deviation, but his ears were perked in interest on what the flowers could do.

“Yes. They hold quintessence. Altea used to be covered in them,” Lotor explained. That seemed to be enough for an explanation for Keith because he raised no more questions.

“Lotor, the princess’s ship is incoming towards the same planet,” Axca reported as they got closer to landing. “Should we make sure they don’t land?”

From behind, Lotor heard Keith’s blade get unequipped from his belt. Lotor smiled.

“No Axca at least give them a chance.”

* * *

Shiro wasn’t the biggest believer of splitting up especially when on new territory but with Allura’s urgency and Lotor’s crew on the same planet, the paladins knew it was the best interest to divide to find the plant.

Hunk and Pidge were able to locate a general location but Hunk had overestimated how much the planet would scramble their technology. Not only were their communication systems down but their lions couldn’t seem to fly. With those unfortunate discoveries, they had settled on just searching the designated radius that the trace was coming from and would return back to the castle ship in two vargas.

Shiro was at least grateful for the breathable air on the planet. They didn’t even have time to change into their paladin gear due to the rush. He had to take the blessings where they were handed.

He moved some branches and vines away amongst the multiple plants. The farther he went through, the denser the jungle got. Of course, he would get sent to the more constricted part of the radius with no bayard to use.

Shiro’s Galran arm glowed as he cut through a thick branch to make a path. He was doing his best not to disrupt the life on the planet. Usually, Pidge and Allura would make an assessment or at least he would buddy up with Lance and Hunk on a different planet to learn what was to be avoided and what needed to be treated with care, but they didn’t have the time.

He picked up the now destroyed branch and put it to the side. He went back to wavering amongst the vines as the light dimmed from his arm.

“Are you joking?” Shiro asked out-loud as some vines got entangled on his own arm. He shook them off, reminding himself to make sure to as Pidge to evaluate what would make juneberries flowers grow on a planet like this. The atmosphere and land was nothing like Altea.

The vines dropped to the ground, making a loud thud. Shiro breathed out an exasperated sigh, looking ahead only to hold his breath. There, in front of him, was a patch of juniberry flowers bathed in golden light.

He was afraid if he finally started to breathe, he would wake up, find himself back on the ship, and it was all a dream.

A segment of home.

A part of their home. Something that represented so much was so close in his reach it just didn’t feel real.

Shiro took a step forward.

Only to be pinned down, knife to his neck.

* * *

Keith had been eyeing the Altean for a few moments. He had noticed the flowers and was wondering how to extract them when he heard someone approach so he hid only to see the black paladin’s reaction to the flowers.

He didn’t understand it. They were just flowers. Yes, they held quintessence, but Voltron already had a lot of that especially with assistance from the coalition.

There was some other emotion he was feeling from viewing the stranger that Keith couldn’t pinpoint; shock? He didn’t know but he found himself gripping the side of the tree while he watched the black paladin’s gentle eyes sparkle at the sight of the flower, the corner of his lips, turning into a small smile.

Then when he took a step towards them, Keith's mission took over. He intervened, pouncing on the Altean. He was told to get the flowers. Lotor had yet to steer him wrong so if Lotor said to get the flowers, that’s what he would do.

A grunt from the Altean as the blade came to his neck. His eyes opened, shocked.

 _Pretty._  
  
Keith’s eyes widened at his own thoughts only to get interrupted as he flipped by a strong grip, his knife sliding to the side. Keith struggled from the pin as he looked along the arm that flipped him.

“That-that’s not Altean . . .” Keith gasped out, recognizing the arm's technology and what it was made from.

* * *

_Beautiful._

Shiro loosened his grip at the voice. It was smooth and Shiro found his chest tightening as he saw his eyes were not a full golden but had purple irises with pupils.

“You’re not full Galra . . .” he whispered, now getting a better view of the features. He almost reached out to touch the Garlan’s hair.

Almost.

The Galran seemed enraged by that comment for he had grabbed the knife during Shiro’s comment and made a swipe. Shiro jumped back only to stumble on his violet colored cape, mentally cursing at the traditional Altean garb he was currently wearing.

The Galran went in for a punch but Shiro matched it with his Galran arm. He could see him wincing and Shiro felt pity for a moment, knowing that the arm was modified unfairly.

He faltered. The Galran smirked.

“You’re soft.”

Shiro got punched. Shiro couldn't react quick enough because whomever this little alien was reached around to grab his leg, causing them both to fall down. Shiro gulped seeing a blade heading towards him. He dodged the blade toss. Shiro wasn't exactly sure why this Galran was attacking him but he wasn't going to let himself be taken down. He pulled himself up along the Galran’s body. The alien’s eyes widened and Shiro’s throat was becoming tight.

Usually, close contact was no big deal for Shiro, especially in a fight but now Shiro was becoming a mess. The Galran put his hand on his chest-

-then his knees.

Wait.

The Galran flipped him over, getting up quickly.

* * *

Keith was mentally freaking out. He’s had multiple sparring matches. Hundreds. He could confidently say thousands. On Zarkon’s ship. Next with Lotor. Then with all of Lotor’s crew after leaving Zarkon’s nightmare hold.

Never in any those spars had he felt that he wanted to do something besides fight.

That he wanted-

Keith threw all that confusion and frustration in getting away to grabbing the blade and heading back towards the Altean again, going for a strike. The arm lit up again, holding Keith back from slicing him up.

“Who are you!?” Keith demanded. The Altean gave him a confused but just as equally, angry expression.

“Who are you!?” he mimicked back, just as lost with the predicament. Keith’s rage kicked in along with his Galran side taking over, giving him a little extra strength to take over, shoving him down. Shiro groaned as fell to the dirt. Keith blinked seeing the Altean in pain.

The black paladin let out a small horrified gasp.

Keith had heard it too. He pushed Keith away, revealing in their final quarrel, they had ruined the juniberry flowers. Keith lowered his blade, watching as the Altean picked the broken petals and ruined stems.

Silence overtook them until the Altean got up. He walked passed Keith, leaving him and the destroyed flowers behind.

Keith turned back to the flowers, picking up the soft blossoms.

Guilt overwhelmed him.

He didn't know why.

* * *

Allura didn’t say anything for several doboshes as she watched Shiro out on the training deck. He paused to take a breath. That was her moment to speak up.

“It’s not your fault-“

Shiro went back to attacking the training bots.

“-Shiro, you were fighting one of Lotor’s generals-“ Allura attempted to speak up as Shiro’s hits got louder, drowning Allura out. “-all in all, it was the Galran’s fau-“

The final bot fell, destroyed. Allura watched the broken robot fizz out as Shiro steered past her.

“I’m heading to bed.”

* * *

Keith headed down the bottom of the Lotor’s ship. He had already explained to Ezor, Narti, Axca, and Zethrid what had gone down with the plants. While Narti and Axca didn’t demand that Keith delve into details, Zethrid and Axca kept bombarding him with questions on how he allowed an Altean to let the juniberry flowers get destroyed. Keith refused to get into that.

The doors to Lotor’s study opened. The ship they had was small, causing everyone to share rooms (Lotor with Narti, Keith with Axca, Zethrid with Ezor) and due to the size of the ship, necessities took over of what types of spaces were needed.

Lotor had opted to offer one of the larger spaces of the ships for a training section for his crew while he took a smaller one for his study where he could research and do lab work.

Lotor would use the word ‘quaint’ for how small the workspace was.

Keith called it laughable but he was desperate.

Lotor turned as Keith walked in, doors shutting behind. He was already feeling claustrophobic as the towers of Altean scripts and items mixed along with books and work from various worlds filled the room.

“Keith, I know you tried your best with the junib-“

“-about that,” Keith cut in, not ready to hear Lotor console him. Lotor always seemed to have soft spots for Galra half-breeds. Why Keith could never pinpoint.

He brought out the destroyed juniberry flowers. Lotor stepped back, bumping into a shelf. He ignored it as his hands wavered over Keith’s.

“You brought the segments?” Lotor asked, picking up a petal. He lifted it up to the light, studying the details. “Why Keith?”

Keith could feel his own face heat up. He was hoping the fur on his own skin was covering the blush but by the cheeky smile on Lotor’s face, he knew was failing.

“Axca told me she heard you speak to the black paladin-“

“Can you fix it?” Keith interrupted, not ready to have this conversation. Lotor pursed his lips only to bite them in deep thought, still looking at Keith. He shut his eyes, holding the petal to him.

“They are deteriorating Keith. We can bring it back but juniberry flowers are extremely delicate and how they were able to survive on another planet is beyond me,” Lotor explained, picking the rest up out of Keith’s hands. “If we can recreate some of its living situation from that planet, then it is possible but again . . .”

Some reluctance from Lotor as he placed the flowers and stems in some Petri dishes.

“ . . . we are on the clock, Keith . . .”

“Okay,” Keith said, fully understanding the situation. “So what do I need to get?”

Lotor was already reaching for items to start the process.

“Soil. Go to the same place where you found the flowers and get me the soil. You can use a pod to travel back and forth for this,” he said. Keith nodded heading out the door. “Oh and Keith?” He stopped turning to Lotor. “It will be nightfall soon on that planet. Be cautious.”

* * *

‘Cautious’ was correct. Everywhere Keith turned there seemed to be another creature or plant trying to kill Keith. He had just heard a snarl and without even looking, he took a stab at it until the sound stopped.

He would have looked at it but the last few animals showed no mercy in trying to take Keith’s life and he was done playing games. He started to get back up, ready to go on.

The snarl began again and his heart stopped. He was sure he had killed whatever that thing was. He gripped his knife, hoping he could attack before it did as the snarl grew louder.

A flash of purple flew in front of Keith, illuminating the scene. Keith looked down to see the large snake-like creature with talons now pulsating ooze as it choked to death.

“Those die by the head, not the heart.”

The Altean.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asked. Shiro motioned to the jungle, the light from his arm moving when he did.

“I can ask you the same thing.”

* * *

Shiro could explain to the Galran that he was here to find more of the flowers. He could say that he felt guilty for his friends and he couldn’t sleep so he took his lion in the middle of the night, still in Altean armor, in hopes he could find more of the extinct plant.

However, Shiro didn’t know if the Galran would care or not. He held his hand to him. The Galran reached only to pull back.

“I don’t bite.”

“I know that,” he spat out, grabbing his hand. Shiro pulled him up. Immediately, he attempted to walk away. Shiro looked up.

“If you go that way, you’ll find more of what I just killed . . .”

The Galran turned and headed the way Shiro had just come from.

“-lots of these neat little bugs that spit acid there-“

He froze, then headed for a third direction.

“-oh and there-“

“Okay!” the Galran threw his hands up, frustrated. Shiro crossed his arms, amused at how quick tempered he got. “Where? Where do I go . . .”

He paused realizing he didn’t Shiro’s name.

“Takashi. Takashi Shirogane. My friends call me Shiro.”

A scoff from him. “I’m not sure we are friends.”

“Do you want to be?”

The boldness from Shiro had clearly surprised the Galran. In all truthfulness, Shiro had surprised himself. His heart pounded as the Galran put a strand of hair behind his fuzzy ear.

“Keith . . . I’m Keith . . .” Keith mumbled.

“Keith?”

“Yeah,” a firm tone. “Keith. What about it?”

Shiro grinned.

“It’s just . . . I’ve encountered my fair share of Galrans and you . . .” Shiro trailed off, not wanting to sound insensitive. Keith barked a laugh.

“Oh, and you’re any better?” Keith gestured to the Galran arm which contradicted him completely. The uneasiness in the air seemed to lift away at the two of them making whim at themselves.

”Fair enough,” Shiro motioned in a direction. “I haven’t tried in this way.”

* * *

Keith picked up his pace, walking next to Shiro, allowing his arm to guide them.

“The arm? It’s Galra. Are you . . .”

Keith didn’t know how to phrase the question. Lotor had spoken of an Altean Champion who was set to be slaughtered by Lotor's father but managed to escape Zarkon’s ship. It happened recently and it was rumored it was one of Voltron’s paladins, which was also why for a period, it made sense for how come Voltron didn’t form since people were seeing the lions yet not Voltron itself.

“Champion?” Shiro suggested, sarcastically. “Yup. Some Champion,” Shiro gestured to the scar on his face and a missing arm.

“Does it hurt?” Keith reached out to touch the arm. Shiro flinched at Keith and he stepped back, quickly realizing his mistake. He always had trouble reading situations and overstepping personal boundaries but he was truly curious that an Altean-

Shiro's shoulders relaxed.

"Sorry, I'm still getting used to it," Shiro explained as held his arm out to Keith, who began touch and lift the arm, feeling the cool metal. It was advance. Something not even Lotor could build. Perhaps the witch he's mentioned before?

"Does it hurt?"

“Sometimes. There are these . . ." Shiro had to pause to find the right words. " . . . moments? Moments, when I feel like my arm, is there but then look and it’s not and-“

Shiro lingered to observe Keith who was raising Shiro’s arm up and down in fascination at the weight and sturdiness. His eyes were wide. Shiro snorted.

“Curious?”

Keith stopped, embarrassed, still holding onto Shiro’s arm.

“I-.”

“No, no, it’s alright. Better than when people get uncomfortable about it,” Shiro said, speaking out of truth. It was relaxing to see someone not have to inch their way around it.

A loud screech amongst the trees interrupted their conversation causing Keith to pull Shiro in. Shiro had also responded moving forward, causing Keith to get pinned against a nearby tree.

“I-what was tha-“ Keith said, unsure where to start as Shiro looked off in the distance. Shiro turned to face Keith.

“Are you okay?”

_No!_

Keith wanted to yell. This Altean’s body was against his. Again, and his own mind became clouded.

“Yes,” he croaked out. Keith was ready to go find whatever made that noise and massacre it. Shiro let out a cough, backing away and releasing him.

“Right, well, we should set up camp for the night. It seems to be getting riskier with every tick . . . ” Shiro scanned their surroundings. “There’s a cavern that would make do for the night.”

Keith agreed it was the right decision as the two headed off. Out of the corner of his eye and with the light provided by Shiro, Keith spotted the patch of dirt where they ruined the flower.

Keith couldn’t leave yet because Shiro would then know what he was doing so he would just need a little bit of time.

* * *

“Shiro are you okay?”

Shiro stopped poking his food and turned to Lance. The rest of the paladins were looking at him in worry. He gave them what he thought was a smile that would convince them he was alright.

By the look on their faces, Shiro understood they didn’t believe him at all. He tried again.

“Really, guys,” Shiro set down his fork, picking up his glass. He took a drink, avoiding everyone’s contact.

“You don’t look oka-“ Lance started only to get interrupted.

“Ow!” Hunk yelled out, jumping up. Pidge flinched, reaching out the yellow paladin.

“Sorry, I was trying to hit Lance,” she explained, turning to Lance. Lance held out his hands in confusion and offense towards Pidge and the two began to bicker. As the paladins continued on, Shiro’s mind drifted to Keith.

He had assumptions that the Galran wouldn’t stay the whole night but he was a little surprised that Keith had just bolted without a simple acknowledgment. Shiro had found himself worrying if the Galran was okay but he had to to keep telling himself that Keith appeared like the type to be able to keep care of himself.

He also didn’t have time to search for the Keith because he did bolt in the middle of the night without telling his fellow paladins so his priority was to arrive before they woke up.

It was fine though. He could try again looking for the flowers. It wasn’t a complete failure because he got to see Keith again.

“Shiro?”

Shiro’s blood ran cold as the red paladin had not moved on. Allura was still staring at Shiro, trying to put pieces together. He avoided her suspicious stare, hoping she would move on with the rest of the paladins.

* * *

“Uh oh.”

Keith peered over Lotor. His towering stature made it difficult for Keith to see exactly how implementing the soil with a segment of the flower and the seeds extracted from it was going but the tone Lotor just used was not reassuring him in any way.

“Uh oh?”

Lotor pulled back showing the sample he just did was not surviving. Keith was beginning to lose hope.

“It appears that it won’t grow with the water we are providing . . .” Lotor put the sample under some magnification tools. He began to mutter to himself. “Now that I recall, Axca did mention the water on that planet gave a different reading. . . I wonder-“

“So what do I do?” Keith asked, getting restless.

Shiro didn’t seem like a bad guy. He was actually really kind which made Keith feel even worse destroying the flowers. He couldn’t get the memory of seeing how the Altean reacted when seeing those flowers get crushed. He wanted to fix it. He didn't know why it felt so important to himself or how come those plants meant so much to Shiro but it was all Keith kept thinking about.

Lotor glanced at Keith out of the corner of his eye. Another knowing smile that made Keith feel sick.

“Ease yourself, Keith. There are more solutions. We nearly tested one hypothesis and there are more factors to consider-“

“Lotor.”

“Right,” Lotor realized he was rambling. He gestured back to the work. “If you can get some water from that planet . . .”

Keith tensed up. “It’s a dry planet for the most part. The forested parts are full of humidity and Narti showed us readings before that seasons rarely changed. . .” Getting an actual usable amount of water would be a difficult task.

Lotor acknowledged this, stepping away from the work and going to one of his shelves. He pulled a small device down, clicking it. It brought up geographical readings of the planet, inside and out.

“There are this deep, pitted caves-these cenotes- that Ezor and Zethrid spotted on their excursion,” Lotor explained, zooming in on the small pits of water hidden under land. “There are a few close to where you discovered the patch.”

“Okay, that doesn’t seem so hard,” Keith said, looking at the locations that could contain water. Lotor had already gone back to working on the flowers. He went to head for the pod only to get stopped by Lotor again.

“Axca mentioned something felt . . . strange . . . about the water Keith,” Keith held his hand on the frame of the door. Lotor was right about his previous warning on last night's outing of the planet so the second warning should be heeded.

“Strange how?”

Lotor gave a small shrug. Keith shut his eyes. So much for caution.

* * *

Shiro had to keep reminding himself that this time around, he was here for the flowers. The plants. The juniberry flowers that came from his planet. Something that symbolized home not only for himself but for his friends.

He was not here for a certain Galran that kept invading in his thoughts. His smile, his eyes, the way his cute little ears flicked up when he was curious-

Shiro gave a small whine, slightly kicking a nearby tree. This mental battle was exhausting and with every debate with himself, he wished to see Keith again.

And of course, Shiro would get his wish granted when a blood-curdling scream threw his train of thought right off the rails.

_Keith._

Shiro started to run towards the scream. That was surely Keith. It had to be. Why was he screaming? Why was he here again? Was he hurt? He couldn’t find him! He can’t pinpoint his yell!

Shiro shut his eyes. He needed to calm down. Panic would not help.

“Keith?!” he yelled out. He was desperately and miserably hoping that Keith would make any sound, good or bad, just so Shiro could find him.

“S-Shiro?”

A terrified choke. Eyes shot opened. He was close. He sounded close. There was an echo and a splash of water? Water?! Where was there water? Shiro continued to run through the jungle, almost laughing out loud.  
Fate would have it he would meet Keith again in the most unfortunate circumstances. Was his chest getting tighter? He couldn’t think of that right now!

Where was he?!

“Keith!? Say something! A sound! Anything!” Shiro shouted again. Ticks passed by and then a splash was heard again. Below. Below?

Shiro stepped back, as his arm charged up. He hit the ground, digging in, pulling back dirt and grass. Once a hole was made, light showed the situation Shiro had come across.

There were caverns amongst grottoes under the jungle floor he had been walking. Below, even farther past stalagmites was a pool of water.

One where Keith seemed to be sinking into. Shiro hit his arm to the side, climbing down. The space in between them was too big of a gap to just jump straight in. There was no way he could reach and grab Keith. He wanted to leap in but Keith seemed like he was freezing up in the water so Shiro was unaware of how he had to approach so he wouldn’t be affected.

He needed to be smart about this.

Keith glanced up at Shiro, vapor coming out of his mouth, lips already turning blue.

“S-Shiro . . .” he gasped out.

All logic and reasoning got tossed out the window as Shiro dived in. He opened his eyes to find the water actually felt lukewarm to him.

Almost all of him.

A sharp, numbing pain hit his Galran arm. He looked to his right seeing the frost take up until where the Galran arm stopped. The light on it flickered off, locking up. Yet the rest of his body was fine.

Shiro’s focus couldn’t be on himself right now as he used his functioning arm to grab Keith, who was trembling. Keith's eyes widened as much as they could get in the state. Keith gazed at Shiro, trying to contemplate if Shiro was genuinely in front of him or not.

“It’s going to be okay,” Shiro assured wading to the water. Keith buried himself in Shiro’s neck, desperate for warmth.

Shiro felt warm. The water felt warm. Why Keith was feeling warm? This was beyond him yet the longer he and Keith was in the water, the worse Keith seemed along with his own arm.

After a few more wades through the water, they reached the edge of land and Shiro propped Keith to the edge, who collapsed down. He shivered while he held himself close, watching Shiro get out. He tried to shake his own arm but gave up when it continued to stay locked. He focused back on Keith.

“Are you okay?”

Keith shook his head, still shaking. “Why aren’t you cold?” he mumbled. Teeth chattered paired up with a sneeze. Shiro moved closer to Keith, pointing to his arm.

“Only this was cold. What were you doing down here?”

Keith ignored the question. He gave a nod to Shiro’s arm.

“Your Galran arm?” Keith said. Another sneeze. “Of course. It affects Galra . . .” Keith muttered, holding himself tighter. Shiro reached to touch Keith’s back. A pause.

Would Keith even be okay with physical contact? He had been so skittish so far and Shiro did not want to overstep boundaries.

A sniffle and Shiro frowned. He put his hand gently on Keith’s back. Keith stopped moving.

Shiro immediately withdrew his hand. Keith quickly faced Shiro.

“Wait! Don’t sto-“ Keith sputtered, his voice echoing throughout the cavern. Shiro swallowed seeing the red tint that began to fill up Keith’s face. Keith turned back around. “You feel good . . .” he said in a quiet tone.

“Yeah?” Shiro put his hand. Keith eased to the touch.

“Yeah . . .” Keith began to stammer again, holding his hands out as if he could grab the right words with them. He gave a frustrated sigh and then moved closer to Shiro, falling into his hold. Shiro held his arms back as Keith covered his face, out of embarrassment.

“You’re-I’m sorry-I just-“ Shiro placed his arms around Keith, bringing him closer. Keith pulled his hands away. “Thank you.”

Shiro didn’t know what to say. He proceeded to hold Keith whose, thankfully, body temperature was returning to normal quickly. He fixed a few strands of Keith’s hair that was sticking to his neck. A soft grumble from the back of Keith’s throat could be faintly heard. It sounded similar to a purr.

Shiro drew back. It’s not that he wanted to stop. It’s just that he needed to restrain himself quickly. Something about Keith made him lose all composure.

He settled for chewing on the inside of his cheek as Keith’s breathing steadied. After a few moments of silence, Keith began to speak up.

“Do I look Galran to you?”

A curveball of a question was thrown just now. It was a complete change of topic from what had just transpired down in the cenote. Shiro was not sure on how to answer while his functioning hand wavered over Keith’s.

“Yes? I mean-“

“It’s alright if you say no Shiro. It’s pretty clear I’m not full Galra. Just like everyone else Lotor recruited . . .” Although Shiro couldn’t see Keith’s face, he sounded somber. He placed his hand over Keith’s. Keith flipped his own palm over, allowing Shiro’s fingers to get intertwined with his own.

“I don’t even know my full name,” Keith began. “I remember Keith but it’s . . .”

“Fragmented memories?” Shiro offered, recalling how lost he felt after waking up from the Zarkon’s arena. So much of his own past was wiped and if wasn’t for his friends, he may have never recalled most of his memories.

Keith squeezed Shiro’s hand.

“Exactly. Things are missing. I’m Galran. That’s clear . . . but who is my other parent? Even Lotor can’t place what other race I am-“ a bitter laugh. “Where am I from? How did I get here? Why was I on Zarkon’s ship-“

A sharp, shaky breath. Still clasping Keith’s hand, Shiro brought Keith as close as he could. He brought his chin to Keith’s shoulder who chortled.

“I’m sorry I’m throwing a lot on you-” Keith began.

“Don’t be,” Shiro cut in. Keith released Shiro’s hand so he could turn to face Shiro. He looked directly at the Altean.

“I don’t agree with what Zarkon does. His-“ Keith gave a troubled frown. “-his ways.” Shiro unclipped the royal Altean cape from shoulders and began placing it around Keith’s shoulders. There were a few rips at the edge causing some pieces of the expensive, rare fabric to fall on the ground but it didn’t matter. He wanted to make sure Keith's body temperature wouldn't lower.

“So why join Lotor?”

“It was-join Lotor, who also rebelled against his father, or join Zarkon. What would you pick?” Keith asked as Shiro adjusted the clothes on Keith. “Don’t get a lot of options . . .”

“How about the Coalition?” Shiro offered up. “I’m sure someone there would be able to help find where you are from and Voltron-“

“You’re sweet,” Keith smiled, sadly, knowing how the universe disliked the Galra and what the odds were.

* * *

Keith slammed the vials of water on Lotor’s desk. Lotor showed no sign of flinching. He picked up the water samples.

“Careful. It freezes Galra.”

“Really?” Lotor was now up in fascination, looking at the water in new found intrigue. “The juniberry flowers must be able to be strong enough to use the water, changing-“

Keith walked off, leaving Lotor to his work.

He allowed himself to think of certain Altean.

* * *

“Alright,” Allura opened up Shiro’s bedroom door. The doors shut behind her as Shiro sat up.

“Princess?”

“You had Pidge and Hunk check your arm after we noticed it kept acting up, Lance saw you come in with your clothes wet and right now he’s currently sewing one of your articles of clothing up because it was ripped up, you’ve been constantly tired-“ Allura began listing off on her fingers. She took steps towards Shiro who moved back against the wall. “-Shiro if you need space to deal with the flowers, I understand but we need-“

“It’s not just that-“

“-then what’s on your mind?” Allura questioned, voice dripping with concern. She took a seat next to Shiro. She began to twiddle her fingers. “We are beginning to get concerned and-“

“-do you hate the-” Shiro stopped when he saw Allura’s face completely invested and worried. Of course she hated the Galra. She was hit the hardest out of all of them from what they did and how could Shiro even bring up what he was feeling around Keith.

He didn’t want to hurt Allura nor any of his friends who were hurt by Zarkon’s actions but at the same time, Keith had nothing to do with that yet-

Allura put her hand over her mouth. Realization flashed across her face.

“The Galran you encountered. Shiro have you been speaking-“

“-I’m sorry Allura.”

The atmosphere was rigid. Allura stared straight ahead, processing that her fellow friend and paladin had befriended one of Lotor’s Galran crew members. Without looking at Shiro, she continued to talk.

“Do you . . . do you like him?”

Shut eyes paired with a trembling voice. “I cannot stop thinking about him Allura.”

“I see . . .”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. He wanted to explain but how could he. He didn’t know how. It all had happened so fast in little encounters and moments.

“Stop that. Please,” Allura said, flicking Shiro’s nose. He blinked his eyes to see Allura with a tight smile. “Only you would fall for the enemy. Naturally.”

“Allura . . .” Shiro watched as she chuckled to herself. “I won’t pursue him if you-“

She put her hand out.

“Shiro,” Allura interrupted. “You are our most rational and sensible team member. If you were someone else-“ Allura laughed to herself. “-I would just say it was a passing emotion and you would move on in a phoeb and eventually forget about this. . . but we both know that’s not true.”

She was right. Shiro always put others before himself. His friends even quipped how Shiro would only work for Altea’s council and people until his death before taking a break to do something for his own life. He rarely thought of the possibility of romance or being infatuated with someone. It just never fit in his life but now Shiro wanted to welcome the idea.

“You’re not mad?”

“Whomever this Galran is,” Allura began, giving Shira a calming smile. “He must be pretty special.”

* * *

“It’s still dying.”

“Thank you, Keith,” Lotor said, annoyed that they could not crack the code of how to bring the flowers back. Keith was sure him hanging around Lotor all the time during the process wasn’t helping but he didn’t know what to do now. Lotor seemed to be at an impasse. They were running out of samples and every time Keith asked what the next step was, Lotor gave vague answers.

He was losing confidence.

He wanted to make Shiro happy.

“We’ve been working on this nonstop. Perhaps some shuteye and a new day will give us some fresh perspective on how to tackle this conundrum,” Lotor suggested heading up to his room. Keith didn’t move. “Keith?”

“I’m going to stay here. Maybe we missed something and. . .“

Lotor opened his mouth to protest but Keith was already scouring through his notes. He sighed, heading out and leaving Keith to try to find a solution.

Keith was aware Lotor was making some good points. He had barely slept since he met Shiro but ever since that fateful encounter, a fire sparked in him urging him to make things right. He could last a few more vargas if that meant it would lead him to an answer.

His fingers brushed over one of the last untested petals. Quintessence. His head started to hurt. Everything always came back to that absurd life force. Keith rubbed his eyelids, trying to stay awake.

Maybe if it wasn’t for this battle for quintessence and power, he and Shiro could have met in different circumstances. Possibly he wouldn’t feel hesitance going with the Coalition, rather than staying on Lotor’s side. Either way, no matter what he chose-Zarkon, Lotor, Voltron Coalition-everyone wanted quintessence. Keith placed the petal back down as he took a seat.

He always knew he wanted answers. Answers to who and what exactly he was but now Keith was beginning to feel a tad bit more selfish. He nudged another petal with his finger.

The thought of seeing Shiro, spending time with the Altean-the black paladin of Voltron, no less- kept overrunning his thoughts more and more each dobosh. Keith tugged a strand of his hair.

How could he be so selfish? Leave Lotor and their crew after offering him a different path from Zarkon’s reign? Yet Shiro had presented him with a new one.

Keith yawned, shaking his head. Stay awake he kept telling himself. He needed to figure a way to fix this.

He closed his eyes.

Besides, Princess Allura, the infamous red paladin, would never allow a Galran to join the Coalition. Especially when she pilots her dead father’s lion, a man who lost his life to the Galra.

Just like the rest of the rest of paladins. Shiro was entertaining a pipe dream.

Why though? Why did Shiro bother with him? Keith leaned to the side, his vision beginning to the blur as he continued to look at the juniberry flower experiments.

He wasn’t so spec-

* * *

“Keith! What did you do!?”

Keith bolted up, discovering his eyesight was blocked by shades of violets, pinks, and greens. Reaching up, he began to pick up what was constricting his view.

Juniberry flowers. He was surrounded by juniberry flowers. Lotor had snatched one by Keith and began studying it under a microscope.

“Wha-how did this-“

“He’s really flabbergasted.”

Keith turned to see the rest of Lotor’s team peeking in by the door. Axca had the better view, seeing all the flowers. Zethrid gestured to all the flora.

“I still don’t understand the big deal!” Zethrid complained. Ezor jumped up, using Zethrid and Axca’s shoulders as leverage. Narti stepped back at this while Ezor cocked her head, making a ‘coo-ing’ sound.

“They are kinda cute,” Ezor giggled maliciously. “Must be some hell of a crush hm Keith?”

Keith’s eyes opened at the knowledge that the entire crew knew why he was doing this. Axca elbowed Ezor’s stomach who was snickering with Zethrid. She gave an apologetic smile to her sparring partner. It wasn’t helping. Embarrassment was taking over. He shook the flowers off onto the desk.

“How do they-“

“It’s written all over your face Keith,” Lotor stated. “Truly. Infatuation and love makes people do ridiculous things-my word this is absolutely amazing!”

“I’m not in love-“

Lotor rolled his eyes. “Denial is very ugly Keith. Anyway,” Lotor picked one of the juniberry flowers. “The juniberry flowers are quintessence sensitive. It either needed raw quintessence-“

“-or someone who was quintessence sensitive,” Axca finished, understanding that the flowers were being delayed. Everyone stared at Keith. He shrunk back, wishing he could go back to being surrounded by the flowers and not seeing everyone's reactions. Lotor continued on.

“The sensitivity you have Keith allowed the experimental batches we already started to grow and you staying all night must have allowed-“

"Stop,” Keith protested, not wanting to hear Lotor babble on about his life force and go into a lecture on how lucky he was to be quintessence sensitive.

“Aww, our little Keithy is quintessence sensti-oof!” Ezor groaned as now both Axca and Narti both elbowed her in the stomach, warning her to stop.

Keith ran his fingers through at the overflowing amount of flowers surrounding him.

This was supposed to be the hard part.

Yet it felt like the hard part has just begun.

* * *

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay after dinner? Coran is going to tell us of one of his great battles,” Allura asked as Shiro began heading back to his room. Shiro declined. He wanted to get back to training. His head became more clear the more he pushed his body. He still had questions he needed to find answers such as whether he should continue trying to to find those flowers and what to do about his blossoming feelings for Keith.

The doors to his room opened.

Shiro chuckled.

He was asleep. He had to be. On his bed was a huge bouquet of juniberry flowers nearly overspilling to the floor. Obviously, that couldn’t be real. He had never seen that many flowers, not since actually being on Altea before Zarkon's attack. Even when he found the small patch on his first encounter with Keith, there were only a few flowers.

So this couldn't be true.

Shiro stepped in, the scent of Altea taking over.

These weren’t real, he had to tell himself as his chest stiffened with memories of home and his family before everything went wrong.

His fingers laced around the bouquet as tears begin to brim.

He was going to wake up. He wasn’t sure where but he was going to wake up and these weren’t going to be in his hand.

Shiro’s hands felt to see what was holding all the flowers together. A choke escaped his lips for what held all the flowers together was pieces of torn, purple fabric braided together.

The same exact fabric from his cape that got destroyed when he saved Keith.

The doors opened.

“Shiro, Allura and Coran are arguing about a piece of old Altean knowledge and you’re usually good with that stuff-“ Lance stopped, seeing Shiro was shaking. “Shiro?”

Shiro turned to reveal the bouquet. Lance stumbled back, needing to steady himself on the wall. He laughed hysterically.

“How-no-how-Shiro!? What!” Lance clasped his own mouth shut himself up only to uncover it to laugh. “No!” Disbelief was what Lance settled on yet he dragged Shiro across the castle who was sure not to drop a single flower.

* * *

Keith should have left them when everyone was asleep. He should have brought the flowers later because right now, he was hiding behind a wall while he was trying to pass by three of the paladins who were walking across another section of the ship.

In hindsight, his plan was poorly thought out but he had very few means of communication with Shiro.

“I’m positive Shiro would know the answer,” the princess said. The short, green paladin crossed her arms.

“Your only saying that because Shiro always sides with you. He’s afraid of you.”

The large, yellow paladin laughed with the green paladin as the royal, red paladin stuck her nose in the air.

“I’m right. I know I am. Where is-Lance!?”

Lance must have been the blue, lanky paladin who-Keith’s mouth parted as he saw Shiro had received the juniberry flowers. Shiro couldn’t take his eyes off them as this fellow paladins rambled on about how this could have happened.

Keith wasn’t listening. His attention was completely on the black paladin, who was carefully readjusting the flowers, keeping them close to his chest. A soft tint of pink grew over his violet Altean marks across his cheeks to his scar.

“I can’t believe this! I never thought we would see juniberry flowers again. . .” the green paladin whispered, sounding nostalgic.

“I guess someone . . .” the princess drawled out on the word, causing Shiro’s blush to increase. She smiled. “ . . . must have found more.” Shiro’s fingers grazed the ribbon made of a ripped cape.

“I guess so.”

Keith turned away, smiling to himself.

* * *

“Did he like them?” Lotor questioned as he started working on a new project.

“Yeah. He loved them,” Keith crossed his arms. “They all did. . .” Lotor smiled.

“Good. Out of anyone, those five Alteans will be able to keep those juniberry flowers from extinction,” Lotor said. He was right. Out of the multiple bad things Lotor and his crew did, this seemed to be one of the few good ones. A small victory. His thumb ran over his fingers as uneasy thoughts filled his mind. Lotor took notice.

“He will find the note.”

Keith stopped. Lotor didn’t face Keith but continued to speak.

“I don’t own you Keith. I’m not my father. I offered you help to escape. I’ve done my part,” Lotor explained. He set down some tubes and glasses, turning to look at Keith. “We are here out of choice. What is yours?”

* * *

Shiro couldn’t stop smiling. Lance had even made jabs about how he was ‘glowing.’ It didn’t matter because the return of the flowers had put a spring in everyone's steps. While Shiro wanted to be a bit greedy and keep Keith’s lovely and thoughtful gift all to himself, he didn’t want to be harsh. The smart move after discussing with Allura was to put some of the flowers down in their laboratory where Allura, Pidge, and Hunk could work on replicating the plant so it would never reach extinction again.

Then Shiro agreed everyone should have some Altea in their rooms as remaining flowers were given to the paladins. He had even put a few where Coran’s holographic consciousness appeared.

Leaving Shiro with a handful for himself. How Keith did it, Shiro had a vague idea, now realizing the Galran must have been on the planet not to find the plant itself but to find a way to recreate it.

Shiro never even contemplated doing such a thing. It impressed him that someone with no Altean knowledge could do this for him. Shiro wasn’t sure if this was Keith’s way of apologizing or more but he was grateful.

He wanted to thank Keith.

Shiro holding the last flower he was ready to put in a vase by his bed. Then it would just leave the piece of cloth. He picked it and it opened up. Shiro raised an eyebrow. He didn’t realize it was folded over until now.

He flipped the fabric. Across the torn fabric were coordinates written out paired with times and dates.

Coordinates that he had already seen.

Shiro bolted out his room, clutching the cloth and juniberry flower.

* * *

Keith watched as the sky changed colors. The planet was actually quite beautiful late afternoon, just as the stars began to litter the sky. It was peaceful. Especially when nothing was trying to kill him. He pulled his knees up, glancing towards the jungle. He knew he'd have to leave soon because nightfall would hit.

He had already been there for a few vargas and this was the second time Shiro missed. He had offered a few different ones in case Shiro didn’t notice the hidden coordinates or couldn’t make one. He had a few more chances left on the cloth.

Yet, a nagging feeling kept saying Shiro maybe didn’t even notice the fabric or he just didn’t care but every time that feeling popped up, Keith shoved it down. He wanted to take a chance. A leap. He wanted to try with Shiro.

He craved seeing that Altean more. Whether it was for one moment or a thousand, Keith wanted to see him again.

So a desperate attempt was born. A message. Coordinates. A plea.

Keith found himself shutting his eyes and wishing. He was always so uncertain about everything in his life. His past, present, and future yet for the first time, he was certain about Shiro.

He felt something for Shiro he never felt for anyone before.

The scent of a juniberry flower filled the air around him. Keith moved just as Shiro placed the flower behind his ear. He smiled and Keith melted.

“Shiro. . .” he murmured, refusing to take his gaze off him. Shiro seemed to do the same, now running his hand though Keith's locks.

“Keith. . .” Shiro held his gaze and then glanced down, sheepish. Keith nudged his cheek in Shiro’s palm. This felt right. He didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want Shiro to leave. “Thank you, Keith. I don’t know how-“

“It was nothing.”

Shiro spluttered, flabbergasted causing Keith to break out in a grin. He was adorable. Charming. Beautiful.

Keith felt helpless.

“It was not, nothing! What you did was amazing and selfless and-“

Keith gulped as Shiro’s enthusiasm was matched with a fervor that caused Keith’s own face to heat up again-something that would only happen around Shiro. Keith reached for Shiro’s chest, who had stopped babbling. Keith gave Shiro’s lips a moments' stare only to quickly look away, feeling absurd to even think he can step in that direction.

Shiro stopped talking, acknowledging Keith's reserve and gaze.

He brought his other hand around Keith’s waist. Keith’s chest was ready to burst as he steadily brought himself to the ground, pulling Shiro down with him. Hands still on Shiro's chest, Keith looked up at Shiro now who pulled himself closer.

“Are you sure?” Shiro asked, his breath feeling warm. An Altean. Not just any Altean. The black paladin. Zarkon would kill him. He’d be shunned from pretty much all Galra. He woul-

“Are you?” Keith repeated, his own hands moving against Shiro’s neck to his hair, dying to just give in. He was a Galran. A half-breed Galran who served on Zarkon’s ship and then for Lotor. One who had little memory of his own life.

“Yes,” Shiro said, confidence unwavering. That was what did it as Keith cupped Shiro’s face pulling him in for a desperate kiss, his fingers tracing over the Altean marks. Shiro smiled amongst the kiss as his own hands reached to hold Keith’s face.

Keith as he moaned amongst Shiro’s lips. The two laughed as Shiro began to peck and nip Keith all over the neck while Keith sat up just to pin Shiro down. He covered his face as Keith nibbled his ear and made his way back to his lips. Keith paused to see Shiro was bright red, still covering his face. Keith pulled his hand away, his fingers lacing through Shiro's, holding it while using the other one to let his hand move under his shirt.

“What?”

“A little familiar to how we met,” Shiro snorted, referring to the bold pin-down from their first confrontation. Keith batted Shiro’s head with the still clasped hand. Another chuckle followed by Shiro rolling up to give him a much more relaxed and steady kiss.

It was just . . . easy. It just clicked with the two of them as they tore away, a beaming grin on the Altean that the Galran couldn’t help but match.

A hum from Shiro as he held Keith close and Keith pressed his forehead against Shiro’s, closing his eyes, hands still clasped.

“To think, I got to meet you because we crushed juneberry flowers.”

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Sheithlentines! I hope you liked it ^^


End file.
